Packard Bell relaunches with brand new PC line-up

The EasyNote Butterfly is less than 1in thick

Packard Bell has unveiled a whole new line of PCs as part of a relaunch of the brand, including new compact desktops, laptops and netbook systems.

Available from June, the new range is a complete refresh of Packard Bell's line-up following the company's acquisition by Acer last year. All the products are to be sold exclusively through retail channels, the company said.

Highlights include the EasyNote Butterfly, a thin-and-light system less than 1in thick with a 13.3in screen, plus two netbook models, one with a 10.1in screen and a second with a slightly larger 11.6in display.

Packard Bell also has several new desktop lines, including a low-cost nettop and systems aimed at gamers.

Hugues Gontier, marketing and communications director at Packard Bell, defined the company's target market as "people sensitive to style and the personality of the product", and said that the company had paid a great deal of attention to "simplicity".

Gontier explained that buyers are more likely to be influenced by branding than by technology, and conceded that the company would have to be competitive on price. "We do not target just two per cent of the market, so we need to be affordable," he said.

The netbook models are the dot s with a 10.1in display at £279, and the dot m with an 11.6in screen from £349. Both are said to have a battery life of up to five hours and have built-in 3G wireless. Packard Bell hinted that it is in talks with carriers to bundle the machines with an airtime contract.

The EasyNote Butterfly looks like being a rival for Apple's MacBook Air. It weighs "500g less than a standard laptop", according to the company, yet is claimed to have a full day battery life thanks to power-saving technology from Acer. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company said that it would be "aggressive".

Other laptops include the EasyNote TJ, LJ and NJ lines, described as a " standard line-up" by Packard Bell, with 14in, 15.6in and 17in screens respectively. The portable line is completed by the EasyNote TR, a high-end model with a slim design and edge-to-edge screen.

On the desktop side, Packard Bell has four ranges: the iMax Mini, iMedia and iXtreme, and the iPower aimed at gamers.

The iMax Mini is very similar in appearance to the Revo announced by Acer earlier this year, and is small enough to clip to the back of a monitor.

Most of the other desktops ship in a small form factor one litre chassis, but include all the features of larger systems, according to the company. One neat touch is that all the ports are accessible from the top of the case, because PCs tend to stand under a desk.

Packard Bell said that other new systems are planned for the Christmas season, including touch-screen PCs.